Texans try handling prosperity for a change

CHRIS DUNCAN

Sunday

Oct 30, 2011 at 12:01 AM

HOUSTON - Here's something new: The Houston Texans are about to find out how they handle prosperity.

The Texans (4-3) took command of the AFC South with a convincing victory at Tennessee last week. With Indianapolis down and out minus Peyton Manning, Houston has never had a better opportunity to land its first playoff berth and wipe away a history defined mostly by epic collapses.

"I like the way we control our own destiny," right tackle Eric Winston said. "It's a matter now of going out there and doing it."

The Texans can put a stranglehold on the division race with a victory today against Jacksonville (2-5).

Houston was also 4-3 last season, but a four-game losing streak was starting on the way to a 6-10 finish. This year feels different, most notably thanks to last week's 41-7 win in Nashville.

Houston produced a season-high 518 yards and the second-highest point total in franchise history against the Titans. Arian Foster and Ben Tate both topped 100 yards rushing, Foster also had over 100 yards receiving and Matt Schaub found seven different receivers on 18 completions for 296 yards without an interception.

And all that came without star receiver Andre Johnson, who will miss his fourth straight game with a right hamstring injury but could return next week.

Each week, staff members place giant posters at either end of the Houston locker room. They read "One Focus," with a Texans helmet facing the helmet representing the opponent that week.

Today, the Texans will face a defense coming off its best performance in years. Jacksonville held Baltimore to 146 yards in a 12-7 victory on Monday night. The Ravens mustered only 34 yards rushing, the lowest total by a Jaguars opponent since 2008.

The Jaguars have jumped from 28th in total defense last year (372 yards per game) to sixth this season (299.7). Coach Jack Del Rio traces the improvement to the infusion of leadership by adding safeties Dawan Landry and Dwight Lowery.

"It certainly helps if you know what you're doing, if you're communicating with confidence," Del Rio said. "I think we get some of that from our safeties being veterans that are sharp, that take charge and make sure that in the back end, that's where the errors are really magnified. If you're making mistakes in the back end they can be catastrophic.

"So we're minimizing those types of plays, where you're just giving away big plays and yardage," Del Rio said. "The safeties have been a big part of that."

The Jaguars snapped a five-game losing streak against the Ravens, restoring some morale in the locker room.

Despite the renewed attitude, the Jaguars have plenty to fix on offense. They're last in total yardage (252.4 per game), second-to-last in scoring (12 points per game) and rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert's 69.4 rating is third worst among starters this season.

Jacksonville has committed more turnovers than its opponent in three games this season, all losses. Gabbert said eliminating the mistakes is the foundation for improving the offense overall.

"It just boils down to execution," he said. "We played well as a team last week and we won the football game. We won the turnover margin. We've just got to keep things like that rolling."

That'll be difficult against a defense that held Tennessee to 148 yards and 11 first downs last week. Houston's defense has generated 19 sacks and 12 turnovers this season.

"They do a lot of things to try to confuse you a little bit," Jones-Drew said. "Before we can worry about them, and I say this every week, we have to control what we can control and that's how we practice, how we prepare for them and how we can execute our game plan to the best of our abilities."

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